May
it please your
Lordship, the State has
told your Lordship that this trial is a trial for murder and attempted
murder.
The indictment alleges military training and sabotage. But despite this
the
accused have been subjected to cross-examination on murder, incitement
to
murder and attempted murder. The evidence presented to the court on
these
claims is all hearsay, and the existence of these claims has never been
substantiated in this court. There has been a mass of inadmissible
evidence
which bears no relation to the indictment. The defense will not even
deal with these allegations as they have nothing to do
with the case. The defense concedes that Umkhonto we Sizwe recruited
men for
military training and that members of Umkhonto committed acts of
sabotage. The defense
denies, however, that they committed all the acts of sabotage with
which they are
charged. I will demonstrate to your Lordship, from the evidence, that
there
were other organizations in South Africa committing
acts of sabotage at the
time in question....
Even if
the State had succeeded in proving that certain acts of sabotage were
committed
by Umkhonto, that is not the end of the matter. The accused who the
State said
were the leaders of Umkhonto are only responsible for the acts falling
within
the designated policy of Umkhonto. The evidence is that Umkhonto’s
policy was
only to commit acts of sabotage against government and public property
which it
labeled symbols of apartheid. The evidence further shows and stands
corroborated by the evidence of the State witnesses Mtolo and Mthembu
that the
clear policy of Umkhonto was sabotage without loss of life. The
authorities
show that if one member of the conspiracy goes out and commits an act
falling
outside the ambit of the conspiracy, his fellow conspirators are not
legally
liable for such acts. On this basis the accused, who adhered at all
times to a
policy designed to avoid danger to life, were not responsible for acts
of
sabotage committed even by proved members of Umkhonto against their
instructions. The accused accordingly disclaim all responsibility of
bomb
attacks on private houses...